The New England Patriots made a final decision on a Super Bowl fullback Tuesday, locking in one piece of a looming roster battle. The Patriots re-signed fullback Jack Westover, the team announced Tuesday via Patriots.com. Westover inked the exclusive rights free agent tender extended by the Patriots about six weeks ago, keeping him in Foxborough for the 2026 season ahead of what looks to be a hard-fought position battle this summer.
The move keeps a player in-house who carved out a meaningful role during New England’s Super Bowl LX run, but it definitely does not guarantee him the starting fullback’s job. The Patriots signed former Buffalo Bills fullback Reggie Gilliam as an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and that addition changes the depth chart calculus at fullback entirely for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, whose scheme often relies on a strong fullback position. Both players will be in camp fighting for the same roster spot. But the decision may only intensify a two-player battle that wonât be settled until deep into Patriots training camp.
Jack Westover’s Role in New England Patriots’ Super Bowl Run
Westover’s path to Foxborough was anything but direct. He entered the league as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Seattle Seahawks in 2024, originally listed as a tight end out of Washington. He joined the Patriots’ practice squad in October of that year, earned two active-roster elevations, and was signed to the 53-man roster before the end of the season.
New England converted him to fullback for 2025, and the 6-foot-2, 245-pounder responded by appearing in all 17 regular-season games with two starts, then playing in all four postseason contests, also with two starts, according to the Patriots’ official roster page. In Super Bowl LX, the Mount Si High School product logged five offensive snaps and 22 special teams snaps, per the Nisqually Valley News, as New England was crushed by Seattle, 29-13.
His Super Bowl stat line tells a sparse story. Westover got one target, one reception, and eight yards in four games. But fullbacks are graded on a different curve. Availability, blocking efficiency, and special teams contribution matter more than yardage stats, and Westover delivered on all three fronts across a 21-game season that ended in an unexpected Super Bowl berth for the surprising Patriots.
Reggie Gilliam Signing Sets Up Patriots Fullback Competition
The re-signing does not close the position battle; it opens one. The Patriots added Gilliam on a three-year, $10.8 million deal this offseason, according to Spotrac. Gilliam spent his first six NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills, where he built a reputation as one of the AFC East’s most reliable run-blocking fullbacks in a McDaniels-style system, exactly the offense now running in New England.
That background matters. McDaniels offenses have historically featured the fullback as an active participant in the ground game, not simply a lead blocker on passing downs, as Chowder and Champions‘ Jeff Szymanski noted. Gilliam’s six years of system familiarity give him a structural advantage walking into training camp.
Westover, now 26, arrives at that competition as the incumbent, a player who earned the trust of a coaching staff that just reached the Super Bowl. The Patriots re-signed him because roster rules required it under the exclusive rights framework, not necessarily because the job is his to lose. He will need to outperform Gilliam through OTAs and training camp to guarantee his spot on the 53-man roster when the 2026 season kicks off.
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